This invention relates, in general, to space satellites and vehicles and, specifically, this invention relates to systems for maintenance of space satellites.
The working life of space satellites, presently in orbit, is limited by the working life of their sub-systems. Future satellites stationed in the geosynchronous corridor, for example, commercial communication satellites, will be subject to growth along two paths; grown in physical size to accomodate the increase in communications traffic, and growth in lifetime to reduce the cost of the systems. Currently, satellite lifetime is about seven years and one aspect of the problem of increasing satellite lifetime to perhaps twenty years is to provide a means of replenishment of consumable and performing repairs on those sub-systems that are likely to experience failure. Further, since the communication field is one in which technological advances move very rapidly, provision must be made to replace outdated hardware in the satellite with new hardware.
The need for servicing satellites was recognized by the inventors, Groskopsf et al, to whom the U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,904 was issued on Mar. 21, 1978. However, the concept therein disclosed involved a man made shuttle orbitor operated by a technician located in the passenger compartment to entrap a satellite in its orbit and to locate the trapped satellite on an indexing platform located in the orbitor cargo bay where modules may be exchanged between the satellite and the module magazine in the orbiter.
Thus, the prior art envisioned a manned vehicle, a capture of the orbiting satellite to be serviced, and the release of the satellite after service back into orbit.
Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to improve the prior art systems of satellite service by eliminating manned vehicles, the need for capturing a satellite to service the same, and the problems involved in such systems, such as servicing a communications satellite whose antennae may span several hundred feet.